Spending Time

Spending Time

Editorial Reviews
About the Artist
After years of writing hit songs for other artists, LeRoy Bell is breaking out as a solo artist with his new CD Spending Time. Labeled "Acoustic Soul" by early listeners, Spending Time is a blend of smoky soulful vocals and acoustic guitar accompanied by cello. It is a very personal statement and quite different from songs Bell has written for other artists.

"After years of being a songwriter for hire, it’s a very freeing experience to write songs strictly for myself," says Bell of his new direction. "It’s much more personal for me. I feel completely uninhibited to say what I want to say and not concern myself with taking another artist’s voice into account. Subsequently, I’ve seemed to reach a new level in my songwriting, as my muse is completely unfettered."

LeRoy Martez Bell started singing and playing the guitar at the age of eight in Darmstadt, Germany. His father, a Sergeant in the United States army, moved the family back and forth from Europe to the U.S. several times before retiring in Tacoma, Washington.

Shortly after, Bell moved to Seattle. Although under age at the time, he began playing the local club circuit at night and honing his song-writing skills during the day under the watchful eyes of his uncle Thom Bell. Thom Bell is known as a celebrated producer-songwriter for The Stylistics ("Betcha By Golly Wow," "You Make Me Feel Brand New,") The Spinners ("I’ll Be Around,") the Delphonics and The O’Jays. He taught nephew Bell, and later Casey James, the do’s and don’ts of song writing. Bell and James went on to write songs for many great artists, such as Elton John, Rita Marley & The I Threes (wife of the late Bob Marley,) Johnny Mathis, The Temptations, The Spinners, The O’Jays, Teddy Pendergrass and Lou Rawls, just to name a few.

Bell recently had a number one song in England with "Are You Ready For Love," which he co-wrote with Thom Bell and Casey James for the legendary Elton John. The song, which was performed by Elton John and remixed by Fat Boy Slim, debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Charts for the week of August 31, 2003. John most recently performed the song on the "World Idol" television show, which aired worldwide on January 1, 2004.

Bell & James were signed to A & M records as artists and released two albums, one of which produced the top ten hit "Livin’ It Up Friday Night." The hit was recently sampled by P. Diddy & Co. for the latest Notorious B.I.G. album, Born Again. More of Bell and James’ work was sampled on "Still," the lead track of Jennifer Lopez’s 2002 release This is Me….Then.

"It’s flattering to have your work sampled," says Bell. "It’s interesting to hear their take on a song and what the music brings out in them. Some artists don’t like being sampled, but I enjoy it."

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Spending Time

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